Outdoors

Paul A. Smith | Outdoors Editor

Elk 'harvest' causes flap

The hunting party was reportedly small, with a few tribal law enforcement and U.S. Forest Service personnel nearby.

But when an elder from the Lac Courte Oreilles band of Ojibwe shot an elk Friday morning near Clam Lake, the sound reverberated statewide.

That was, no doubt, an intended outcome of the planned "ceremonial harvest."

The exercise of an off-reservation hunting right, however, represents a breech in what had been good faith and cooperation between the state and tribes as Wisconsin attempts to restore a wild elk herd.

And it very likely has more to do with disagreements - and what the tribes feel is bad faith and a lack of consultation - over wolf management than anything to do with elk.

Sue Erickson, a spokeswoman with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission in Odanah, told me Friday that the six bands of Ojibwe represented by the commission decided to harvest a single elk for ceremonial reasons.

It was the first elk hunt since 25 animals were released near Clam Lake in 1995. The State of Wisconsin, UW-Stevens Point and U.S. Forest Service coordinated the transfer of animals from a herd in Michigan.

Per the Voigt decision, the state's elk management plan includes a 50-50 split of harvest between tribal and nontribal hunters. But the Department of Natural Resources' plan calls for a minimum population of 200 animals before a limited elk hunt was to occur. The DNR estimated the state's elk population at 180 animals in early September.

Erickson said the tribe received a ceremonial harvest permit Thursday from the Voigt Intertribal Task Force. The hunting party then held a ceremony Friday morning and set out into the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.

"Less than an hour after a ceremony a young elk showed itself for a clean shot," Erickson said.

The elk was a spike bull, estimated at 1 1/2 years old, said Erickson. It was shot with a rifle by a tribal elder from the Lac Courte Oreilles band.

The hunt was held despite opposition from the DNR.

"We do not condone nor agree with how the Chippewa tribes unilaterally proceeded to carry out this harvest without consultation," said Kurt Thiede, DNR Division Administrator of Lands. "Their decision to proceed leaves us with deep concern and disappointment."

No conservation support

Thiede said the harvest was a setback in relations between the state and tribes.

"We currently have no agreement on elk, and now with the tribes stepping outside of the agreed upon stipulation process, it makes discussions on elk and a host of other issues more difficult," Thiede said. "It is truly a lost opportunity to continue to demonstrate cooperation and shared purpose with the tribes now that they have carried out this hunt."

The tribes' decision to take an elk found no support in the wider conservation community.

"We've made slow progress over the last 15 years, but this is the ugliest step in the wrong direction," said Bernie Lemon of New Berlin, a supporter of the elk reintroduction program since 1994 who attended several American Indian ceremonies . "I would say I'm heartbroken. It's just dumb."

Like many supporters of the elk reintroduction, Lemon is a member of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The organization has contributed more than $1 million in financial assistance for elk management, research and habitat stewardship in Wisconsin. The RMEF has 7,800 members in Wisconsin.

The organization has pledged a minimum of $300,000 to help bring more elk into Wisconsin, likely from a burgeoning wild herd in Kentucky.

Kurt Flack, regional director for the RMEF in Wisconsin, said Friday's elk harvest was best resolved by state and the tribes.

"But we're relieved it was not a cow and that the hunt was apparently safe," Flack said.

The organization had more than 100 people attend an elk "bugle days" event Sept. 8-9 near Clam Lake.

Other effects possible

Jeff Morden of South Milwaukee, a longtime volunteer with the Wisconsin elk program, is concerned the tribes' taking of an elk could reduce support for the elk restoration program.

"We've been working hard to increase the elk population," Morden said. "I hope that this (harvest) doesn't cause people to withhold their support because the tribes aren't working together with the state."

One possible outcome could be that the state decides to place additional elk only on land outside of the ceded territory.

Erickson said the taking of one elk was not only within the tribes' rights but consistent with ecological and spiritual beliefs.

"The tribes feel that one elk can be harvested without causing any measurable biological impact on the herd," Erickson said. "They also believe from their teachings that species are here to be used and if they're not used the creator will take them away."

Erickson said the elk was smudged in a purification ceremony and that all parts of the animal, including meat, hoofs, teeth and hide, will be utilized.

An act of spite?

Some have suggested the elk was harvested to spite the state over its plan for a wolf hunting and trapping season. The tribes, who see the wolf as a brother and clan member, have expressed strong opposition to any wolf hunting and trapping season.

A Wisconsin wolf hunting and trapping season is planned to begin Oct. 15.

"I don't think this was a spiteful act," Erickson said. "I think it was done for ceremonial reasons and had a very good feeling for it all the way through."

She also said a ceremonial harvest "comes up only out of need" and no additional elk hunts are planned.

Until very recently, no one expected the Wisconsin elk herd to be part of a chess match between the state and tribes over the issues of treaty rights and resource management.

The harvest of one young bull won't change the herd's immediate future. It could have long-termimplications, though, in how the state decides to manage the elk.

The Ojibwe have many laudable cultural traditions. Their respect for the land and management of ecosystems is widely acclaimed.

But regardless of the reason for the elk harvest, with overwhelming public sentiment against the act it's hard to see how it will help the tribes progress toward their larger goals.